Coast Guard crews responding to diesel spill near Walpole, Maine

BOSTON — Coast Guard crews are responding to a diesel fuel spill in the Damariscotta River near the village of Walpole, Maine, Friday.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England, Maine, received a report at approximately 8:40 a.m. of a 30-foot barge that had been damaged by ice and leaked approximately 100 gallons of diesel along the Damariscotta River.

Responding to the spill are crews from:

Coast Guard Station Boothbay Harbor, Maine

Coast Guard Sector Northern New England

Maine Department of Environmental Protection

South Bristol Fire Department

Response teams have capped the barge’s fuel vents and deployed sorbent boom and pads around an estimated area of 100 yards by 20 yards to contain the fuel.

The barge is equipped with two internal diesel fuel tanks and had a maximum capacity of 200 gallons.

There is no active sheening at this time.

The remaining fuel is scheduled to be pumped from the barge Saturday morning.

In an average year, the Coast Guard responds to approximately 250 reports of pollution in the Northeast.